al-qaeda. it reads in part there was information that let to us assess the attack began spontaneously following protest early they're day at the embassy in cairo. we provided the initial assessment to the executive branch officials. we learned more and we revised our assessment to reflect new information to indicate it was deliberate and organized terrorist attack. administration officials seemed to go beyond that guidance, stating that benghazi was a demonstration prompted by the youtube video that spun out of control. fox news was first to report there was no information when the attack was going on. the rso tells fox the consulate had to be cat call as critical threat terrorism. or civil unrest posting. what follows are the special physical security standards laid out by the state department that has reinforced ballistic windows and doors.

it's not the chance sorry where the official business done. the walls must be three meeters in height. buildings must be set back 100 feet. it's designedded to create hour of safety or golden hour where classified documents can be burn and emergency evacuation called in. we asked whether they met the required security standards. if not, were the waivers approved. the state department spokesperson said they had nothing to add until the internal investigation is complete. >> bret: thank you. libya is not the only trouble spot for the president. chief white house correspondent ed henry tells us middle east powder keg many feel could explode. >> biden was supposed to be in florida focused on beating up romney on medicare -- >> i want to say, i want to say one thing -- >> he could not resist going

off message to rush to president obama's defense. >> i want to tell you how proud i am to stand shoulder to shoulder with a guy who has done more for israel physical security than any president of eight i served with. >> that came the day that the president was on the phone with netanyahu who is in the united states instead of meeting him in person. a white house statement said they are in full agreement of a shared goal to prevent iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, it stopped short of agreal to the red line that he demanded thursday. >> where should a red line be drawn? right here. before, before iran completes a second stage of nuclear enrichment. >> romney pressured the

president scheduling his own call today with netanyahu. >> the national security threat is iran with nuclear capability. we spoke about the assessment of where the red line ought to be drawn. >> romney took the opening to hamer a president who has seen drop on foreign policy. the problem is bigger on the questioning of the handling of libya with 39% of the public approving, 43% disapproving and 17% unsure. >> i'm supposed to be eye candy here. >> this week started with the president keeping an -- taping ed soap of "the view" instead of holding meetings with the world leaders in the u.n.

>> top democrats today defended the president noting it's important to get the facts before jumping to conclusions. >> it was fortunate early on in the process that the candidate tried to exploit tragedy for the political purposes. >> top democrat had a major role today circulated a bipartisan letter demanding more answers on the attack in libya, including if there were advanced warnings. separately al-qaeda subject today escaping from prison in deadly break that may be difficult to continue this boast on the campaign trail -- >> al-qaeda is on the path to defeat. bin laden is dead. >> senator kerry's involvement makes it awkward because he is playing mitt romney in the president debate prep. they had several sessions already but he is heading to

nevada for practice ahead of wednesday's debate. >> bret: ed henry live on the north lawn. we'll have a detailed timeline on the libya story. at the bottom of the hour. they have moved chemical weapons to secure them. the syrian rebels are trying to drive forces from aleppo. they have mostly dayed out of the civil war. americans in manila have been warned to keep profile and exercise caution. >> they detected a threat in the manila suburb. this is the final weekend before candidates square off in the first of three debates that could help romney gain momentum or the president, of course. today the campaigns are both

raising money and lowering expectations. here is chief political correspondent carl cameron. >> in pennsylvania, democratic leading swing state where he raised $2 million, spark a come from behind in the polls with a speech at the military academy in college. criticizing president obama for down playing turmoil in the middle east and north africa. >> i don't consider the killing of the diplomats in libya as bump in the road. i sure as heck don't consider iran becoming nuclear a bump in the road. we need someone who recognizes the seriousness of what is ahead and willing to lead. [ applause ] >> romney has not spent much time or money. he slipped in the national polls to 4.1 points behind the president. eight points in the keystone state according to the real clear politic average of recent survey but hopeing for a surprise update. >> obama campaign thinks pennsylvania is in their pocket and they don't need to worry about it.

we are going to take the white house. thank you. >> with the first presidential debate, both sides are downplaying expectations. romney notes in 2008 against mccain, mr. obama won each debate by double digits accor according to gallup polling and won by by 33 points. the president's team expected romney to be well prepared, playing up advantages for romney. debate and the first debate, favor challengers. >> senior romney a visor offered the g.o.p. debate spin in a memo to reporters -- regardless of who comes out on the top in the debate we amount afford another four years on the last four years. >> make a decision on what they believe is in the best interest of the country and their family. i expect to describe it in a

way people understand. if i do, i get elected. >> romney spends the weekend in boston and flies to denver on monday. he has no public campaign activities planned. it's all private for the face-off. important of how important romney thinks it will be. >> bret: okay. see you in colorado. virginia base strategic allied consulting accused to submitting 100 questionable registration in seven countie counties. spokesperson says it's trying to find out how broad the scope of the problem is. the company says the form came from one person who has been fired and it's cooperating with investigators. still ahead what does history teach us about the big lead in polls less than six weeks before the election? first, the latest plan to fix the same old problem problems ie old country. its

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>> bret: plenty of financial pain to go around in europe. france imposing a 75% tax rate on high earners. greece is preparing another belt-tightening budget. spain has learned just how much trouble it is in. and the italians say the rich are getting richer. senior foreign affairs correspondent amy kellogg is watching it from london. >> public sector workers marching through the streets of rome say the weakest are hit the hardest when it comes to cuts in spending that they have to swallow. protesters allege leaders enrich themselves. >> in the last three years the salary of public and private employees drop and the manage managers have administrator an

chairman risen by 200%. >> in spain, protest got ugly earlier in the week. but slightly better news came today at the close of business when they found the bank's black hole to be what was anticipated. $76 billion. that is what europe has been prepared to deal with. in greece, violence earlier in the week as a new round of cuts was announced. they are negligence for procuring the bail-out money this greece needs to avoid default. this is great for europeans. the international economies are interlinked so this is a global crisis. >> the markets are corelated. experts say it's hard to judge the impact of one troubles on another. now americans wonder what deepening european malaise

means for them. >> a grave concern for anyone who invested in the market. >> europe is important expert market in america. >> markets don't go to them. what immediately happens not just with the major employers but in the downstream, with small businesses. people get laid off, business orders go away. >> rescue plans and bail-out fund but europe has too much debt and the experts say there is it will to no way to make it disappear. as long as growth is stalled, the fix here remains illusive. the u.s. economy may be too weak to absurd the further shocks overseas and that's why the united states hope the leaders can steer their countries through us a centerty measures. and keep you were steady. bret? >> bret: amy kellogg in london. thank you. consumer spending rose half percentage point last month because gas prices were up 2%.

that drove down the dow which lost 49. the s&p 500 fell 6-1/2. the nasdaq drops 20. still ahead, what we know about what we don't know about polls. does your phone give you all day battery life ? droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork.

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>> bret: if you listen to talk radio or watch our channel much, there is a significant amount of application right now among republicans about the presidential polls. tonight, mike emanuel with what we can learn from the past about what might happen in the future. >> polls go up and down. we have plenty of time. >> september shows late september leads can evan rate by election day. in 1968, humphry was down 15

points to nixon. nixon won and it was by less than 1%. in 19786, there was a 34-point lead over ford. after three debates ford cut the lead to five points and led in the final gallup poll though narrowly lost. in 1980, jimmy carter had consistent advantage in the polls overarmed reagan but the final debate changed everything. polls showing a lead over romney in the key battleground states, democratic pollster who worked for jimmy carter said finding the right example can be tricky. >> we know from the exit polls and others that republicans tend to respond to the polls less than often times. from the news organizations. less than do democrats. >> in 1988, george bush managed a huge swing. dukakis was leading after the democratic convention but lost to bush.

in 1992, the incumbent president was down nine points and died with bill clinton but october though clinton eventually won. former pollster questioning the assumption made in today's polls. >> these polls are assuming that you have the same high level of african-american, latino an young people vote in 2012 that you had in 2008. >> they said the public poll are varying in the sampling and methodology so it's hard to make the case when they point in one direction, they're all wrong. but we are planning for a close race as we always have. >> another democratic strategist offered this assessment. >> this isn't over. it can move back and forth three and four times between now and november 6. if i'm romney you try to create that momentum. he saw a sign to do it. >> of the eight presidential races in the past ten where the leads were cut or flipped by the opponent, the average

was 5%. in some cases a debate moved the needle. bret? >> bret: thanks. today, missouri republican senate candidate todd akin confirmed he was arrested in pro-life demonstration 25 years ago and he is defending a comment that the democratic income bent claire mccaskill had not been "lady like" in a recent debate. akin lost support over the comment about legitimate rape last month. >> it seems to me the offensive thing is voting record destructive to people of our state. >> bret: mccaskill says akin ladylike comment left her speechless. when we come back, is al-qaeda making a comeback? you would never know it by listening to the obama administration. we'll bring in fox all-stars in early. come on in. they're next. that timeline coming up.

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four years ago i said i'd end the war in iraq and we did. i said we'd wind down war in afghanistan in a responsible way and we are. yes, have a new tower across the new york skyline. al-qaeda on the bath to defeat. bin laden is dead. >> i was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain

that there will be bumps on the road. >> bret: obama has had bumpy weeks according to many especially with the situation in libya. we just had a statement out today. from the director of national intelligence revising the community assessment. we revised this to reflect it was a attack. carried out by extremist. unclear if any group or person exercise overall can control the attack. we do assess some of those involved were linked to groups affiliated with or sympathetic to al-qaeda. with that, we're going to bring in the panel a little bit earlier today. jonah goldberg, national

review online. charles lane writer for the post. >> the dni comes out and says we're revising the assessment. yes, it was terrorism. >> yes. >> every day you think the story can't get worse and it gets worse. about a week ago i said the administration put rice out and made a fool of herself. now that seems generous. i done know where this goes. i think it needs to be connected to something larger to be a major political issue. nothing holds water. you wonner if carney is wondering what the hell have they done to me to put me in this position? it has to be embarrassing for him. >> the intelligence community is falling on the sorb and sword providing coverage to say look

at the dni. we're just saying what they told to us say. >> bret: among likely voters approve, 39% disapprove. 43%. it didn't appear like this was an issue heading in the right direction. that's why a late friday afternoon release from the dni was needed. >> the poll number is not that surprising. >> 43% of the public approves of anything that president obama does at this point. this statement if you unpack it is gobbledygook. command and control? were they associated or al-qaeda or whatever? unclear if they exercised command and control of the attack. the way it was done suggests somebody was running it. there was an intelligent being

in charge of this clearly organized and premeditated attack. even this statement will get revised soon. >> intelligence officials said in 24 hours they knew it was a terrorist attack and thought it was al-qaeda. the public statement it seems is different than that. >> if you read the dni statement it's a cover your rump statement for people at the political end of this. you read the nonsense and say is this what we are spending $50 billion a year on to get intelligence? jonah raised a point this is an issue when the embassy is sacked.

the ambassador is killed. they're attacked from indonesia to tuns. you have a problem. as pointed out, it's not a largeer issue. there hasn't been connected to anything outside. that is failure of the romney come pain. this was an opportunity for romney to make a case and a speech often make an argument how the policy of the administration, apology and appeasement has been tried and not worked. instead he made a statement about the cairo embassy dispatch that romney was correct. he was savagely attacked by the media over that. though vindicate when the obama administration said the same thing. awful statement a little bit later.

after that, there was no speech or no attempt to connect. romney people says that's because it's all about the economy. every day spent on this is a distraction. they don't understand if you give a speech on foreign affairs you become presidential. that gives you stature. the problem that romney has is the fact that people don't see him as a leader. or sort of endowed stature. when they see you. that was an opportunity that was missed. it remains missed. mystery where romney can't seize the moment on this. >> bret: today, he had a phone call with prime minister netanyahu. romney did. he talked about it after it was over. >> we spoke about the greatest national security threat we faced. the world faces. iran with nuclear capabilities. we spoke about this assessment

of where the red line ought to be drawn. my own views with regard to iran. he spoke of red line and gave a date, which was spring and summer of next year. he said he expected an attack by june of this year. they a offering an olive branch to the president. it's recognition on part of israelis that the chances of obama re-election are rising. >> i bant to say a word. somewhat defense of romney on the libya piece. everybody would go after him for exploiting the tragedy for the political purposes. he was in a no-win situation.

>> yeah. i think if way to sol that is put it in broader context. iraq had 155,000 american troops and now has 150 troops in it. conduit for iran to syria. the region is going in chaos. and barack obama who ironically ran foreign policy to keep it out of the news the first term is getting com come-uppance. >> bret: up next, special politics version of the friday lightning round. show is different tonight. stick around. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price.

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an organization serving the needs of americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help cover some of the expenses medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to find out more, request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. >> bret: every week, viewers vote for your choice online and this the friday lightning round poll. 2019 and the media won with 45% of the vote. so this is vague, but media

and 2012. jonah, what role do you think the media is playing in this race? is it significant? is it making a difference? will it affect people's vote? >> it is significant. main stream media -- i used to be a professional media critic got as corrupt in aggregate. there are specific individuals that are responsible people. thewua they covered -- particularly since the convention. anything that inconvinced the obama campaign was cast as racist. there is mad rush to declare romney dead and move on. where you think msnbc will announce if romney doesn't pull out soon he will ruin chances in 2016. in some ways the reason it's so shrill is the main stream media matters less.

they have less of a control of the environment. a lot of people are writing it off. sometimes breath-taking to see. >> i don't know if msnbc fits my description of main stream media but a contradiction of what you said. you said they have a smaller audience which is true but on the other hand the bias might affect the campaign. if the audience for the main stream media smaller, the network and big newspapers presumably it's having less impact on public opinion. >> it is also controlling where the campaign goes. and the climate it creates. >> bret: put up polls, number five. news organization spending more time defending president obama and attacking romney 47%. romney attacking obama 16%. 21% on the next one, focusing on the presidential candidates or the news coverage, silly, serious issues.

there you see the split. the news coverage silly issues dominating. charles, you thoughts? >> the role of the media is auxiliary of the obama campaign and they should relocate to chicago and save travel time. if you look at the specific issues and how they're covered, for example, charlotte, removal of jerusalem from the statement by the party versus the huge coverage that republicans were given over the abortion language. or look at the way the media covered the bump in the road comment if romney made would have been a story for a week. versus how they cover the romney statement when the cairo embassy issued a groveling statement about free speech and video on the day of the first riot outside the u.s. embassy?

>> the coverage that obama got was major. minimal. almost ignored. the romney story lasted for three days. at a time when the u.s. policy in the region was in collapse, which is almost entirely ignored. i think what we saw in the poll and how people conceive this is right. they watch. they see. it's quite obvious which way the bias is going. in 2008 you could excuse it as saying they were in the euphoria of the obama campaign. the idea of historic advent of the first african-american of the presidency. what is the excuse in 2012? >> bret: jonah, what about polls? there is an angst about polls. they're waited toward the democrats. the fox poll was democrats plus three. pollsters explain it different ways. people are upset it's

portraying a turn-out model that is modeled after 2008. and not perhaps this year. >> the pollster, most of the pollsters are doing the best they can. if you don't pick some screen, you are basically throwing random numbers up. you have to have some methodology. the 2008 number is a mag knelt next to a compass. the 2008 turn-out was huge, that it affects all subsequent screens. what i look at now more than anything else in the chaos is the independents. six months ak we were told the whole thing would be caught decided by independents. independents are split.

whatever is going on with the democrats, i don't know. independents, romney wins them. >> this reminds me of the famous comment, i think it was pauline khail in 1972. how could nixon have won? i don't know anyone who voted for him. a lot of reaction from the polls is from people who don't know anybody personally voting for candidate they oppose. this reflects the fact the electorate is polarized and sorted geographically, people aren't aware there could be significant numbers of people on the or side. >> bret: polls are flashes in time and tpeople -- you don'e a republican or democrat. you say which party do you identify with now? >> i don't think it's a conspiracy. if you accumulate polls

together, you get a small error. >> bret: panel, thank you. when we come back, as i said. a different show. we will go step-by-step through the libya narrative. what did the administration know? what did they say? what did they do? it's been a busy week on this story. we thought we'd wrap up the week like this. [ male announcer ] introducing a reason to look twice. the entirely new lexus es and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. droid does.

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>> bret: as i said, different kind of show. it's a busy week of news when it comes to libya. a lot of news. we told you at the top of the program, narrative on what the administration knew about the terror attack in libya and when it knew it, continues to evolve. tonight, the director of national intelligence revised their original assessment according to the release now saying that al-qaeda-linked groups are likely responsible for the attack. we reported this week

intelligence sources said that determination happened in 24 hours of the attack. with that in mind we bring you back to try to put it all in context. starting several weeks before the event. >> august 2012, an unclassified report called al-qaeda in libya, profile, compiled by the defense department combating terrorism office and library of congress states under the direction of the al-qaeda senior leadership, the affiliate in libya, islamic in the aqim and sharia are gaining strength, likely joining forces and are, "currently in the expansion phase." september 5 and 6, at their convention in charlotte, democrats out theed a crippling of al-qaeda. >> ask usama bin laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago. bin laden is dead. and general motors is arrive!

>> al-qaeda is on the path to defeat and usama bin laden is dead. >> just four nights later, september 10. video service of amir, the spiritually leader ayman al-zawahiri calling for jihadist to avenge the death of libyan terrorist al-libby killed in a drone strike in june. september 11, expected protests erupt in cairo after an anti-islam video is played on egyptian tv. the u.s. embassy in cairo puts out a statement condemning the video. about 5:00 p.m. the first wire report cross of attack on the u.s. consulate on benghazi, libya. that night the romney campaign releases a statement condemning the attacks, but criticizing the obama administration for the cairo embassy release about the anti-islam film. also that night, the white house disavows the original cairo embassy press release on the film. september 12. >> u.s. ambassador to libbia, our ambassador has been killed along with three other

americans after a series of attacks. >> america's commitment to religious goes back to the very beginning of our nation. but let me be clear. there is no justification for this. none. >> overnight press release. >> governor romney do you think coming so soon after the events unfolded overnight was appropriate to be weighing in on this crisis as it's unfolding in real-time? >> the white house also said they tried to distance themselveses from the comment and not reflecting of their views up had the same reaction. >> rose garden minutes later. >> we will not waiver in the commitment to see that justice is done for the terrible act. >> they already know the attack was a terrorist act, listed it as such internally and believe it was al-qaeda or

al-qaeda-linked groups in libya. sometimes in the next three hours, president obama sits down with "60 minutes." >> have recent events in the middle east given you pause about support for the governments that have come to power following the arab spring? >> absolutely the right thing to do to align ourselves with democracy, universal rights notion that people have, have to be able to participate in their governance. but i'm, i was certain and continue to be pretty certain that there will be bumps in the road. >> that afternoon, leaves for campaign trip and fundraiser in las vegas. 6:00 p.m., fox news has intelligence sources saying the al-qaeda linked groups could be behind the attack. u.s. officials are investigating whether pro-al-qaeda group known as imprisoned rahman brigade was involved. >> coordinated military style, commando type raid that had direct fire and indirect fire.

military movement involved in it. >> we weren't alone. >> david barton says it may have been a terrorist attack timed to 9/11. >> this was executed by a group either associated with or sympathizes with al-qaeda. >> roughly 9:00 p.m., president obama mentions the attack but spends most of the time campaigning in nevada. >> because nevada battleground state, you are aware we have an election going on. [ applause ] september 13 at the state department. question about security. >> we did evaluate the threat stream and we determined that the security at benghazi was appropriate for what we knew. >> another statement about the anti-islam video.

>> there is no justification. none at all for responding to this video with violence. >> september 14, the president and secretary of state greet the bodies of the fallen at joint base andrews. >> we will stand fast on the violence against the diplomatic mission. >> late they're day on capitol hill, it's obvious and likely there was a terrorist organization, affiliated with al-qaeda, benghazi, that had at least some role in this attack. >> september 16. ambassador to the united nations susan rice goes on five sunday talk shows and called it spontaneous. >> this was not a preplanned, premedicated attack. >> september 17. >> simply on the basis of what ambassador rice has publicly disclosed, does the united states government regard what

happened in benghazi as act of terror? >> again, i'm not going to put labels thon until we have a complete investigation. >> you don't regard it as act of terrorism? >> i don't think we know enough. i don't think we know enough. >> bret: september 18 on the "david letterman show." >> is this an act of war? are we at war now? what happened here? >> here is what happened. you had a video released by somebody who lives here, shadowy character who is extremely offensive video directed at muhammad and islam. >> making fun of the prophet muhammad. >> making fun of the prophet muhammad. so this caused great offense in much of the muslim world. but what also happened is extremists and terrorists. use this as excuse. to attack variety of the embassies including the

consulate in libya. >> september 19 on capitol hill. the head of the national counter terrorism center, the only administration ficial testify so far. >> i would mention i would say yes. >> they were killed in the course of the terrorist attack. >> on our embassy. >> september 20. >> self-evident that what happened in benghazi was terrorist attack. >> we are report that the white house said today the attacks in libya was terrorist attack. >> we're still doing an investigation. there will be different circumstances in different countries. i don't want to speak to something until we have all the information. >> bret: september 21. >> what happened in benghazi was terrorist attack. >> september 24. >> then i heard hillary clinton say it was an act of terrorism. is it? what do you think? >> we're still doing an investigation. there is no doubt that kind of weapons that were used, ongoing assault that it wasn't just a mob action.

>> september 25 at the united nations. >> there are no words that excuse the killing of innocence. no video that justifies an attack on embassy. >> al-qaeda in the islamic magrab and other groups launched attacks and kidnappings from northern mali to neighboring countries. now, with a larger safehane and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and the networks in multiple directions. >> bret: september 27. >> it was a terrorist attack. the reason i think clearly it was a terrorst attack is a group of terrorist conducted that attack on the consulate. and against our individuals. >> that last sound bite from secretary clinton is al-qaeda an islamic magrab matches a quote in the report i told you about at the beginning of the piece. almost verbatim. from everything we have been told, the f.b.i. tonight still has not stepped foot inside

benghazi, the site of the attack and may never get there. we will stay on this story. join us next week for "special report." we'll begin in colorado, swing county and it's a swing state. hosting the first presidential debate. site of the debate tuesday and wednesday. thank you for inviting us in our home tonight. that's it for this "special report." fair, balanced, and i promise, unafraid. i was born with scolio. without shriners hospitals, my life would be completely different. they gave me my future back. send your love to the rescue. donate to shriners hospitals, today. and those well grounded. for what's around this corner... and the next. there's cash flow options from pnc.

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